Modeling Fear of Crime and Perceived Victimization Risk: The (In)Significance of Neighborhood Integration

The bulk of fear–of–crime research has been limited to one questionnaire item that asks respondents to assess their personal safety by answering "how safe they feel alone in their neighborhoods at night." More recently, however, studies have pointed to the multidimensional nature of fear of crime and perceived risk of victimization. Following this line of inquiry, we investigate the potential impact of several variable sets on three measures of fear of crime or risk perception—the traditional risk assessment of being alone at night, a measure of worry about crime, and a more general assessment of neighborhood safety. Of particular interest are the relative effects of neighborhood integration variables on the measures of fear/risk. A comparison of the effects of neighborhood integration variables with a set of perceived neighborhood disorder, routine activities, socio–demographic characteristics, and victimization experience variables reveals that the neighborhood disorder (incivilities), income, and crime prevention measures produce the most consistently significant effects on fear of crime and perceived risk. Contrary to our expectations, neighborhood integration variables appear to be relatively unimportant.     

Collective Efficacy and Crime in Los Angeles Neighborhoods: Implications for the Latino Paradox*

We use data from the Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Study (LAFANS) to examine the degree to which social ties and collective efficacy influence neighborhood levels of crime, net of neighborhood structural characteristics. Results indicate that residential instability and collective efficacy were each associated with lower log odds of robbery victimization, while social ties had a positive effect on robbery victimization. Further, collective efficacy mediated 77 percent of the association between concentrated disadvantage and robbery victimization, while social ties had no mediating effect. The mediation effect for concentrated disadvantage, however, was substantially weaker in the Latino neighborhoods (where it was 52%) than in the non‐Latino neighborhoods (where it was 82%), suggesting that a “Latino paradox” may be present in which crime rates in Latino neighborhoods appear to have less to do with local levels of collective efficacy than in non‐Latino neighborhoods. Implications for future research bearing on both the Latino paradox and the systemic model of social control are discussed.     

Violence in the Transition to Adulthood: Adolescent Victimization,Education, and Socioeconomic Attainment in Later Life

There is increasing speculation about links between violent victimization in childhood and adolescence and socioeconomic disadvantage in later adulthood, yet little work, either theoretical or empirical, has examined this issue. This paper integrates research on social and psychological consequences of victimization with theory and research on socioeconomic attainment to propose a theoretical model that situates adolescent victimization in the socioeconomic life course. Examination of data from a national sample of American adolescents (ages 11–17 in 1976) indicates a chain‐like sequence in which victimization diminishes educational self‐efficacy, which subsequently undermines educational performance and attainment. Through diminished educational attainment, adolescent victimization has substantial and wide‐ranging effects on socioeconomic attainment in early adulthood. Theoretical and policy implications of these findings are discussed.     

NEIGHBORHOOD DISORDER AND INDIVIDUAL COMMUNITY CAPACITY: HOW INCIVILITIES INFORM THREE DOMAINS OF PSYCHOSOCIAL ASSESSMENT

This article examines contextual models to bring together the disorder and community capacity perspectives, since both are grounded in social (dis)organization theory and cumulative causation. We analyze how individual and neighborhood characteristics, social and physical disorder, and crime affect three individual community capacity outcomes: city quality of life, neighborhood safety, and household moving intentions. The “broken windows” downward spiral suggests that neighborhood incivilities may decrease multiple psychosocial assessments, or, individual community capacities. Consistent with prior research, we find that social and physical disorder decreases all three outcomes. Second, we find that both disorders also mediate neighborhood effects, including socioeconomic status and residential stability. Third, these direct and indirect disorder effects are not altered by prior victimization or neighborhood crime rates. Reducing disorder will, in turn, improve three distinct domains and geographic scales of individual community capacity, and can also reduce the adverse effects of other local area capacity deficits.     

The Combined Effect of Women's Neighborhood Resources and Collective Efficacy on IPV

This study integrates gender stratification and social disorganization theories to examine neighborhood effects on intimate partner violence (IPV). Using data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods, multilevel models assessed the influences of women's neighborhood‐level socioeconomic resources relative to men's and collective efficacy on a woman's risk of IPV victimization by her spouse or cohabiting partner. The findings indicate that women's relative neighborhood resources protect against IPV victimization only in neighborhoods with sufficiently high collective efficacy. Likewise, the results show that collective efficacy protects against IPV victimization only when women have at least a modicum of control over neighborhood resources compared to men. The findings emphasize the importance of considering group resources along with neighborhood social organization to better understand IPV. More broadly, this study demonstrates how a group's position in a neighborhood social hierarchy helps determine the extent to which its members benefit from neighborhood social control.     

Parenting as a moderator of minority, adolescent victimization and violent behavior in high-risk neighborhoods

Adolescent male youth in high-crime neighborhoods are at the greatest risk for personal victimization and violent behavior. The temporal relationship between victimization and violent behavior for minority youth in high-crime neighborhoods was examined to determine whether victimization is a risk factor for or by-product of violent behavior. Whether parenting and other control factors moderated the relationship between victimization and violent behavior was also examined. Interviews with 349 urban Hispanic and African American youth revealed that victimization was strongly associated with violent behavior and violent behavior was found to precede direct victimization. Race was found to moderate the relationship between parental attachment and violent behavior. African American youth with the highest levels of parental attachment also had the highest levels of violent behavior, while higher parental attachment for Latino youth was associated with lower violent behavior.     

Urban Poverty and Neighborhood Effects on Crime: Incorporating Spatial and Network Perspectives

Research on neighborhoods and crime is on a remarkable growth trajectory. In this article, we survey important recent developments in the scholarship on neighborhood effects and the spatial stratification of poverty and urban crime. We advance the case that, in understanding the impact of neighborhoods and poverty on crime, sociological and criminological research would benefit from expanding the analytical focus from residential neighborhoods to the network of neighborhoods that individuals are exposed to during their daily routine activities. This perspective is supported by re‐emerging scholarship on activity spaces and macro‐level research on inter‐neighborhood connections. We highlight work indicating that non‐residential contexts add variation in criminogenic exposure, which in turn influence offending behavior and victimization risk. Also, we draw on recent insights from research on gang violence, social and institutional connections, and spatial mismatch and call for advancements in the scholarship on urban poverty that investigates the salience of inter‐neighborhood connections in evaluating the spatial stratification of criminogenic risk for individuals and communities.     

Measurement of Dating Aggression During Middle School: Structure,Measurement Invariance,and Distinction From General Aggression

Two studies examined the factor structure of a modified version of the Safe Dates dating aggression scale and evaluated whether dating aggression is distinct from general aggression during early adolescence. Analyses were conducted on a derivation sample of 3,894 adolescents from 37 schools (Study 1) and an independent cross‐validation sample of 938 middle school youth (Study 2). Categorical confirmatory factor analyses supported a two‐factor model (perpetration and victimization) over models differentiating psychological and physical forms of aggression. The model was invariant across time, sex, grade, and season. Study 2 also supported dating aggression as distinct from general aggression. Results supported measuring dating aggression perpetration and victimization as latent constructs represented by ordered categorical indicators that capture item severity and frequency.     

Social Distress and Theorizations of Child Victimization

This paper presents an in-depth analysis of theoretical accounts of the epidemiology, process, and causalities of child victimization as the manifestation of social distress. Through a comprehensive search of the literature, 46 theories (also models and perspectives) were compiled and categorized into nine paradigms that were further characterized in terms of three bipolar continua. In this paper, the major representative concepts of each paradigm are presented and evaluated to highlight the commonalities, strengths, and weaknesses of its member theories. It is concluded that the history of child victimization theorizations has passed through three progression stages - the ‘speculations’ of the 1960s, the ‘introspective explorations’ of the 1970s, and the ‘diversity’ of the 1980s. It now has reached the ‘multidisciplinary integration’ of the 1990s. In short, an ideal theory is required for each type of social distress phenomenon (such as the child victimization presented in this paper). It must integrate all existing theories such that various controversial and inconclusive theoretical and practical issues can be organized under a common framework for the design, improvement, and implementation of effective service programs.     

Neighborhood responses to disorder and local attachments: The systemic model of attachment,social disorganization,and neighborhood use value

This paper investigates neighborhood-level connections between ecological structure, responses to disorder, and local attachment and social involvement. We develop predictions integrating the systemic model of community attachment, neighborhood use value, and the social disorganization perspective. The systemic model predicts neighborhood stability will deepen attachment and local involvement; the social disorganization perspective anticipates effects of stability on responses to disorder; and neighborhood use value suggests effects of status, racial composition, and problems such as crime and deterioration on attachment. We further propose, building on earlier work, that attachment may influence responses to disorder, or vice versa. Data include resident surveys, census information, on-site assessments, and crime rates from 66 randomly selected Baltimore, Maryland, neighborhoods. In support, respectively, of the systemic and neighborhood use value models, we find strong impacts of stability and class on neighborhood attachment/involvement. Neighborhood fear and perceived informal social control depend upon emotional investment and social integration. We see no overall impacts of deterioration on responses to disorder, calling into question some key aspects of the incivilities thesis. Earlier investigations of deterioration and responses to disorder that excluded person-place transactions may have been misspecified. Results underscore the strong relationship between person-environment transactions and responses to disorder. Asking how to encourage citizens to resist disorder is questioning, in part, how to increase the bonds residents have with the locale and with one another. Portions of an earlier version of this paper were presented at the annual meetings of the American Sociological Association, Los Angeles, August 1994.     

Neighborhood processes, self-efficacy, and adolescent mental health

Self-efficacy beliefs are central to mental health. Because adolescents' neighborhoods shape opportunities for experiences of control, predictability, and safety, we propose that neighborhood conditions are associated with adolescents' self-efficacy and, in turn, their internalizing problems (i.e., depression/anxiety symptoms). We tested these hypotheses using three waves of data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (N = 2,345). Results indicate that adolescents living in violent neighborhoods tended to report lower self-efficacy beliefs, partly because they were more likely to experience fear in their neighborhood. However, moving out of Chicago neighborhoods marked by violence and low collective efficacy to neighborhoods outside of the city was associated with adolescents' increased self-efficacy (vs. staying in such neighborhoods), an association explained by adolescents' school-related experiences. Finally, through self-efficacy, these neighborhood processes had an indirect association with adolescents' internalizing problems. Results partially support a model linking neighborhood conditions, cognitions about the self, and emotions.     

Testing a path model of relationships between gender,age, and bullying victimization and violent behavior,substance abuse,depression, suicidal ideation,and suicide attempts in adolescents

The goal of this study was to test a path model for the relationships between age, gender, traditional bullying and cyberbullying victimization, and violent behavior, substance abuse, depression, suicidal ideation and suicide attempts in adolescents. A hypothesized path model was fit to data from the 2011 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) on a nationally representative sample of 15,425 high-school students from across the United States. Results suggested that the effects of traditional and cyberbullying victimization on suicidal thinking, suicide planning, and suicide attempts were mediated by violent behavior, substance abuse, and depression. Results also suggested reciprocal paths between substance abuse and violent behavior. There were statistically significant indirect paths from both traditional and cyberbullying victimization to suicide attempts without the involvement of depression, suicidal thinking, or suicide planning, findings suggesting a model for spontaneous, unplanned adolescent suicides. Results suggested that female adolescents who reported cyberbullying victimization also reported higher rates of depression and suicidal behaviors compared to their male counterparts, and that as adolescents got older, depression and substance abuse tended to increase, while violent behavior and suicidal thinking tended to decrease. The implications of these findings for social workers, school counselors, and others who work with adolescents are considered.     

From Road Rage to Everyday Automotive Incivility: A Routine Activities Approach to Low‐Level Deviance

Classic sociological theory emphasizing human ecology and the convergence of persons in time and space motivated the “routine activities” approach in criminological research. Empirical work in this tradition focuses on predatory offending, and it has rarely been considered as a theoretical basis for the study of more common, low‐level (mostly nonviolent) deviance. Using commonplace “automotive incivility” as a test case, the present work draws on the routine activities approach in precisely this manner to answer recent theoretical calls for an empirical sociology of familiar encounters and situations. Using data from a nationally representative sample of Australians, this article looks at the time/space distribution, situational commonalities, and emotional consequences of vehicular incivilities. Risk factors consistent with the routine activities paradigm include everyday driving activity and microsituations involving mixed speeds, crowded conditions, and blocked flows. Results also suggest that automotive incivility is more likely than other types of incivility to incite feelings of fear and anger.     

Gender,fear, and victimization: A preliminary application of power‐control theory

The accumulated body of research on public fear of victimization has consistently demonstrated that gender is the most useful predictor of tearfulness. However, theoretical attempts to link variations in fear of crime to gender differences have been found wanting. In particular, these theoretical accounts have failed to provide an integrated framework within which it is possible to reconcile findings relevant to gender differences in both fear‐arousing crimes and fear itself. In this article the research on gender differences in fear and victimization is reviewed, and the methodological assumptions that underlie work in this area are critically assessed. The theoretical inadequacies of contemporary explanations of these differences are then made explicit. Borrowing from the work of Hagan, Gillis, and Simpson, it is suggested that insights derived from power‐control theory provide an alternative and potentially more valuable conceptualization of the interrelationships among crime, fear, and gender.     

The political economy of urban homicide: assessing the relative impact of gender inequality on sex-specific victimization

This research examines the ways in which the changing political economy of urban areas has contributed differently to the homicide victimization rates of females and males across US cities. Recent research, while relatively limited, has presented disparate results regarding the effect of gender inequality on urban sex-specific victimization. Our work further explores this relationship by taking into account relative gender disparities in income, education, labor market opportunities, and politics in an examination of sex-specific homicide victimization in 1990. Key to this current investigation is the evaluation of feminist and lifestyle arguments that suggest that structural gender inequality has a unique effect on female victimization. Overall, our findings reveal gender inequality to be a significant predictor of both male and female urban homicide. While these findings suggest mixed support for theoretical arguments regarding gender inequality, further analyses reveal significant differences in specific types of gender inequality on victimization patterns across genders. These additional results highlight the need for greater attention toward both methodological and theoretical issues when examining the interconnections between gender, political economy, and violence in research.     

Relationships between Early Life Victimization,Antisocial Traits,and Sexual Violence: Executive Functioning as a Mediator

ABSTRACT

Few research studies examine how the relationship between trauma and executive functioning can influence sexual violence among youth. Knight and Sims-Knight (2004) proposed a Developmental Etiological Theory (DET) connecting early life physical and sexual victimization to sexual violence via antisocial traits. Drawing from research that identifies a link between early life victimization and executive functioning, this study tests an adaptation to the DET by including executive functioning as an intervening factor. Using data on adolescents adjudicated of sexual and non-sexual crimes in a western state (N = 200), multiple structural equation models tested direct and indirect relationships between early life sexual, physical victimization, and other adversity, four differential forms of executive functioning, callousness, and sexual violence. Results revealed statistically significant direct pathways between variables of interest and a multi-meditational effect of certain forms of executive functioning and callousness in the relationship between victimization and sexual violence. Treatment and research implications are discussed.     

Service Delivery Models for Social Work Practice: Organizing the Content of Human Behavior and Social Environment Courses

The ever-increasing breadth in the conceptual base of current social work practice requires a schema for organizing the diverse needed knowledge for use by practitioners. This paper describes five models of social work practice: social functioning or social competency; social change; medical-clinical; ecological; and learning or education. The basic commonalities and dimensions within each model are reviewed with emphasis on the varying theoretical bases from the social and behavioral sciences as well as social work; the belief systems inherent in each model; assumptions made relative to the target population, the change process, and social work roles; and the authority patterns existing within each model.     

Repeat and multiple victimizations: the role of individual and contextual factors

The present research uses hierarchical modeling to examine the relative contributions of factors about the person, factors about the context, and, most important the interaction of factors about the person and factors about the context in models of both repeat victimization (more than one of the same type of crime) and multiple victimization (two or more different types of crime). Using telephone survey data from a multistage sample of Seattle residents, we estimate separate hierarchical models for repeat property, repeat violent and multiple victimization. Results indicate that repeat victimization of both types varies substantially by neighborhood, whereas multiple victimization seems more determined by individual-level factors. Implications for social disorganization theory, routine activity/lifestyle exposure theory, and future work on repeat victimization are discussed.     

Theoretical Beacons: Maturana's Theory in Clinical Practice

This paper introduces several theoretical constructs drawn from the work of Humberto Maturana that can be applied to a diverse range of clinical contexts, including supervision. These constructs are: love as a fundamental need of human beings; pathways of explanation: (Objectivity), Objectivity; Emotioning; Structural Coupling; Plasticity; Domains of Operational Coherences. These constructs assist in choosing a point of entry for specific clinical situations and form a foundation on which one's preferred model of practice can be built.     

Social Status and Decent Work: Test of a Moderated Mediation Model

On the basis of the psychology of working theory (PWT; Duffy, Blustein, et al., 2016), we tested a moderated mediation model with subjective social status, work volition, proactive personality, and decent work as variables. Data were collected from 225 South Korean employees (115 women, 110 men). Results indicated that work volition mediated the relation between low subjective social status and decent work. In addition, proactive personality moderated the link between low subjective social status and work volition. Further analysis revealed that the indirect effect of social status on decent work via work volition was conditional upon proactive personality; that is, the indirect effect was weaker for individuals with a higher level of proactive personality. These results provide an application of the PWT-based model in a South Korean context. Future research could include samples from marginalized populations and additional constructs (e.g., career adaptability, human need satisfaction) of PWT.